“ Ryan McGinley "Yearbook" at Ratio 3.” LA Contemporary Oct 2013.

RYAN McGINLEY "YEARBOOK"
at Ratio 3
October 1, 2013
Ryan McGinley loves people. Interesting people. Good looking people. Fun people. Nude people. His casting talent
has brought us closer to modern portraiture than any other photographer of our generation. He can make
supermodels like Daria Werbowy or Hollywood muses like Tilda Swinton seem accessible. He brings us up close
and personal drawing out a person's genuine fun-loving humanity, and piercing personality that reflects from his
own persona.
In his most recent show, when photography has started to become more sculptural, he has decided to go the opposite
route and flatten out the plane. The wallpaper-like installation of over five hundred photos he's shot in the past year
or so, presents an immersive experience. By manipulating the backdrop colors in the images, the installation pops
more like an abstraction, but the connectivity and democratic view of the individual subjects bring you into his
studio's yearbook collage-each person bringing their own style and energy.
The show is a successful trigger of surprises drawing photography out of its curated frame and into a universe that
broadens how a viewer sees. It's a refreshing overload that fills a space generously. Offering an analog rapid fire of
imagery that is larger than life, it perhaps trumps our daily image consumption. From Instagram, Facebook,
websites, magazines, LED billboards, store posters, building wraps, McGinley's obliterated the playing field by
creating a world of photography, charging each picture with individual substance. I wish my yearbook was this cool.
Photos and review by Betty Nguyen